The Land of Somnium

She slapped her heavily creased note onto the counter and ordered a strong brewed coffee. She sank down into one of the many empty seats. The material was worn and soft; she sighed, glad to be off her feet. The city was dark and the time was late but the streets were alive with the bumble of traffic almost comforting. The guy with sun kissed skin and a mop of unruly hair behind the counter, The Starbucks barista, gave her a quizzical stare and it was not hard to figure out why. Slashed jeans adorned with a creased belt hung from her hips , she wore a faded and almost unrecognisable band tee that anyone would have to squint and tilt their head to identify.  Her cascade of brown hair had countless strands escaping its twisted knot, she seemed jittery and drained all in the same breath.

Her heavy head sunk into the worn and soft leather of the chair, waiting for her next caffeine fix and tried desperately not to sleep. She could not sleep. Sleep is what took her to Somnium. Her dreamland, that had become more of a nightmare. "Emma?" The barista called, his deep voice echoing off the brick walls. Why the barista had bothered scratching her name onto her order, was beyond Emma as the cafe consisted of herself and an elderly couple - empty.

She stood on her leaden legs that caused her to stumble and almost trip. Emma swore under her breath, collected her drink with a slight flush to her cheeks and returned to her seat. She wrapped her hands around the warm cardboard but couldn't bring herself to take a sip. The bitter drink was warm in her hand but Emma couldn't help the shiver that ran through her. "Out of my mind," she muttered. Emma had been to enough sleep specialists fighting to maintain a neutral expression, to know how much of a nut-job she came across as.

But this land was definitely real and she was definitely not crazy. When she had made colourful drawings and had talked non stop of this fairyland as a child it had been endearing but as the years went by it came across as obsessive. Emma had once slept often and looked forward to being surrounded by the fae folk who had adored her. She was on good terms with the mermaids, elves, pixies, gnomes, noble fairies, brownies and even the witches. But no more. Doubt, worry and suspicion had been cast upon Emma and what was worse was that with all the guilt and confusion, she didn't really know the part she played in this mess.  

That nosey barista was staring at her again, his eyebrows unruly and knitted together. Ugh, couldn't he just leave her alone? "What is his problem?" Emma muttered, she rubbed her face a further smudged the mascara that lingered beneath her lash line. A gold coin was clenched between her fingers and it bit painfully into her skin and the artificial lighting reflected from the coin glittered with the surroundings of the coin warped. It had been held tight in her fist the last time she had woken up. A reminder. The hours were beginning to catch up and Emma wanted nothing more than to rest her eyes and drift off into a dreamless sleep. She shook her head at the thought; trying to imagine experiencing a dream was like trying describe the sensation of being able to fly. Frankly she had never had a dream, when her head hit the pillow she entered her dream world. Half her days, half her memories and half of her life was at  the realm of Somnium; it was her second home.

Emma took grimaced as she sipped at her drink that had become lukewarm; you would think that she would have gotten used to the taste with her countless cups of the brown sludge.  There were other ways of escaping the warm arms of slumber. Energy drinks that were bright and sweet; making her eyes water and coating her mouth with a layer of pure sugar. But the sugar high and addictive qualities of the drinks were worth it and Emma had been wanting more and swearing off the stuff in the same breath.

Emma gave up on the coffee and placed it on the table in front and her reached into her pocket once more for the coin, the beautiful face of Queen Victoria beamed at her. Emma clenched her fingers that held onto the coin and pressed her fist to her trembling mouth. Her breathing was shallow but shuddering through her. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to let the cracks show and trying to keep herself together.